Peel the onion and chop it finely. Then wash and chop the celery and carrots and chop them too. Wash the fresh basil and pat dry.
Sauté the vegetables in olive oil over a medium heat until they start to soften and then add the ground beef and brown it. Break the beef up as it browns, so that you don’t have large clumps in the sauce. Once the beef has browned add the wine.
Let the alcohol evaporate and then add the tomato passata (purée). Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper and let the ragu simmer on a low heat for about 30-40 minutes. Once the ragu is ready stir in the cream and let the ragu rest while you cook the pasta.
Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Once the pasta is ready, drain it and add it to the creamy beef ragu.
Mix everything together well over a medium heat for 1 minute. This will help infuse the pasta with the flavours from the sauce. Finally, add the pesto and mix again. Serve immediately with some fresh basil and grated Parmigiano if required.
